First of all, greetings.
My name is Dustin Ransom, and I am a working session and touring musician based out of Nashville, Tennessee. I make my living doing a variety of music-related endeavors, but one of the main avenues I am most passionate about is drumming. Having played drums and percussion for most of my life, and having received a college degree in the study of drums, drumming, and drummers, I have been incredibly fortunate to play with a great variety of artists in the Nashville area.
What has been equally worthwhile, if not more so, is becoming great friends with some of the best up-and-coming drummers in the area, many of whom are achieving a great level of success and steady work both in the studio and on the road. The more I have been exposed to the superb musicianship of these gentlemen, the more I have a deeper appreciation for the hard work and dedication these guys have put in for years.
Yet something that had long been a thought in the back of my mind about both my career and theirs started to itch at me more and more as time went by. Something just wasn’t right that these drummers, who are the cream of the crop in Nashville’s vibrant and eclectic music scene, are virtually unknown in the greater music/drumming community outside the area.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that many of the biggest drum and percussion publications - Modern Drummer, Drum! Magazine, Rhythm, etc. - do a pretty good job of regularly spotlighting Nashville-based drummers. However, what I’ve also noticed is that almost all of these drummers are country drummers, many times exclusively so.
Now of course, this makes sense to the outsider looking in as this is Music City, the world capital of country music. And that is also not to say that those gentlemen who are country drummers are not remarkably gifted and successful. However, I have found that some of the best, most talented, and hard-working drummers in Nashville are making their careers playing primarily outside the country bubble, and deserve much more respect and wider recognition than they are currently receiving.
And so, the Nashville Drummers Project was born.
The concept is simple - I conduct interviews with these great musicians about their stories, backgrounds, philosophies, ideas, and experiences, what they’ve learned from working in the industry, and anything else they feel is important. Along with these interviews are pics and/or videos of each of them in action. Lastly, there is either a full-length transcription of a track or several transcription fragments of various tracks that showcase the playing of each drummer, which they are specifically choosing to best represent them.
If you are a musician (especially a drummer), a producer, engineer, music fan, or someone who has even the slightest interest in learning about some of the best drummers around, I can guarantee that you will find an incredible amount of inspiration, wisdom, practical advice, and encouragement in these pages. I definitely know I have.
Please help get the word out by following the project on Twitter (@NashDrumProject) and on Facebook.
Dustin Ransom is a multi-instrumentalist, film composer, and arranger in Nashville, Tennessee. His live and studio credits include Jars Of Clay, Matt Maher, Brandon Heath, Andy Davis, Andrew Belle, Ben Rector, Steve Moakler, Brooke Waggoner, Clemency, Andrew Combs, and many others. Visit him online at www.dustinransom.com
